At 12:05 AM +0100 8/30/08, Stut wrote:
On 29 Aug 2008, at 22:07, tedd wrote:
Do you not agree?
Sort of. I think most disabled people accept that they are different
and that special provisions sometimes need to be made. In this case
I would hope people would understand that the current technology we
have for verifying that users of a website are people do not allow
us to cover every possible case and that we do try to make things as
accessible as possible.
I am sure many disabled do understand, partly because they have no
choice. When confronted with barriers that cannot be moved, then you
look at the problem a little differently (a personal observation).
The problem I see with the net is that much of the technology that
can make their life better is either being ignored or passed off as
"sorry about that."
For example, all the clients who I have worked give lip-service to
disability issues but at every point when they have to make a
decision re accessibility or what they want -- they get what they
want. It can be something very simple thing like color contrast, but
if the client doesn't want a shade darker to comply, then
accessibility loses.
I don't meant to sound negative, but it sure feels like an uphill
battle. It's almost comical when I see web sites who claim care and
compassion for the disabled, but then refuse to make accessibility
changes when they are pointed out to them -- this includes local,
state and the federal government.
To me accessibility means that everyone is able to use something to
achieve a goal regardless of their physical or mental condition.
Nothing about it says that everyone should be able to reach that
goal without assistance and that said assistance should be readily
available and easy to request.
Yes, I agree with that too -- but what I was commenting about was the
"Call us if you're disabled" comment as being the ultimate in
accessibility because that's far from it.
Too many sites simply say "If you have problems, call us" and that's
their total effort to improve conditions for the disabled AND they
think they did their part -- but the truth is they haven't.
But I'll be the first to say that I don't know enough about this
subject, or enough differently abled people to know how they view
the world. What I can say is that one persons definition of
accessibility is not necessarily the same as anyone else's.
That's true. But it's not that hard to put yourself in the other's
shoes and see what problems they face AND how easy it is to mitigate
some of those problems. The simple use of the alt attribute comes to
mind -- this is something that everyone can take the time to fill
out, but few do.
Clearly there are many things to consider, but I claim that as one
becomes aware of the problem, it becomes easier to comply.
Cheers,
tedd
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